Sen. Richard Shelby threatens to block Richard Cordray

The fate of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its proposed director remained trapped by partisan gridlock at Senate confirmation hearings Tuesday.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) reiterated his plan to block former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray from leading the agency, unless it is restructured as a commission and placed under greater congressional control.

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“One of our nation’s founding principles is that the government should be accountable to the people,” Shelby said in his opening statement. “All of the bureau’s power is concentrated in the hands of its director. The director determines which rules are enacted and which enforcement actions are brought. The director makes all hiring decisions and decides how the agency spends its resources.”

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) scolded his Republican colleagues for holding Cordray “hostage,” reminding them that “Congress created the CFPB to be a robust and independent agency.

“This political gamesmanship is preventing Americans from receiving the consumer protections they deserve,” he said, noting that accountability exists because the president can fire the bureau director and its budget is capped.

The bureau has been mired in tension over its leadership. Many progressive groups favored naming Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren—-an outspoken bankruptcy expert who set up the CFPB as a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner — as its director, a call that was largely greeted with silence by the White House.

President Barack Obama chose instead to nominate Cordray, who took over the agency’s enforcement division after losing re-election as Ohio attorney general last year. Considered a potential candidate for Ohio governor in 2014, Cordray told the committee Tuesday that he had no plans to seek political office.

In addition to his time in state politics, Cordray has also served as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk, studied at Oxford University as a Marshall scholar and flipped burgers as a teenager at McDonald’s.

Shelby declined to ask Cordray any questions, telling the soft-spoken nominee that he appeared to have “good” qualifications for the office.

“You’re caught between a big substantive debate,” Shelby said. “That’s going to have to be resolved.”

The debate goes back to May when Shelby voiced his objections along with 43 other Republican senators in a letter to Obama. GOP lawmakers say their goal is not to curtail the power of the bureau, only to ensure it moves with more checks and balances.

While the CFPB officially began operations in July, its authority to issue rules and guidance are restricted without a Senate-approved director in place. That prevents it from regulating non-bank lenders and shielding members of the armed forces from suspect lending.

I've got to say, this is a pretty aggregious and disgusting abuse of power by senate Republicans.

Senator Shelby: your JOB under the constitution is to advise/consent to the President's qualified nominations. The law is the law. You may wish that the CFPB were organized differently. Your opportunity to affect that was when the law passed. You tried. You failed. That's life in our system as envisioned by the founders.

If your problem is with the law itself, you can agitate to change it. You're a Senator. But attacking valid, legal institutions within the administration by refusing to allow them to be staffed, is an abrogation of your responsibility as a senator.

You need to uphold the constitution. You need to PERFORM your duty of advise/consent. We cannot have a system where Senators just decide they don't like certain laws, so they won't allow the administration to implement the law. That way lies madness

Waste Fraud Abuse is the Franchise Property of BureaucRAT moochers, and their Days are numbered. The FrankenDodd CON-sumer finance disaster must be repealed anyway, so the Republicans Might as well delay him getting settled into the gravy train payroll.

Just another GOP senator from the deep south gumming up the works when it comes to President Obama. The Republican party is basically refighting the civil war, trying to undue the civil rights laws, repeal voting rights, and everything else relating to African American life just because the majority of America has elected an African American President. What I just said above is really the untold story with the election of President Obama. The republicans are trying to undue anything and everything that President Obama has accomplished in order to revise history to say that President Obama was never elected as President of the United States of America. If anyone like to debate what I said let us go at it. The leadership of the Republican party has their marching orders and is to defeat President Obama at whatever cost to the American people. Yet the President will be reelected by the majority of Americans in 2012 as he was in 2008. Wow, then what type of evil deeds will the republicans have in store for President Obama once he is reelected in 2012. Can they act any more vile than they are now. Stay tuned. But this time around due to their out and out vile and evil laws they are passing in the states and in DC people are starting to fight back now. The republicans are starting to see that Americans are fighting back vis a vie Wisconsin, Ohio, Alabama, and other states being affected by the Jim Crow type laws passed by republican state houses and even some in DC by republicans. The people have always been with President Obama and remain to this day but you wouldn't know it by the republican enablers in the press. President Obama is coming out more forceful and so are his allies in labor and in congress and finally African American members of Congress are beginning to take on the Republicans=tea party. Thank goodness for the women of Congress who have had enough of the republican lies. Women such as Congresswoman Waters who is African American is speaking out to her constituents and Congresswoman Wasserman-Shultz was on Fox News speaking truth to the republican enablers at Fox news. It is early in the election cycle so it is good that the Democrats are paying attention because they will have to watch everything because the Republicans are going to lie, cheat, and steal in order to try and unseat the President.

Good article I just read. It explains, from an insider's point of view how Republican tactics are all about leveraging the worst features of our form of government and society, like low information voters and the media's modern infatuation with evenhandedness (World round or flat? Experts disagree!)

I've got to say, this is a pretty aggregious and disgusting abuse of power by senate Republicans.

Senator Shelby: your JOB under the constitution is to advise/consent to the President's qualified nominations. The law is the law. You may wish that the CFPB were organized differently. Your opportunity to affect that was when the law passed. You tried. You failed. That's life in our system as envisioned by the founders.

If your problem is with the law itself, you can agitate to change it. You're a Senator. But attacking valid, legal institutions within the administration by refusing to allow them to be staffed, is an abrogation of your responsibility as a senator.

You need to uphold the constitution. You need to PERFORM your duty of advise/consent. We cannot have a system where Senators just decide they don't like certain laws, so they won't allow the administration to implement the law. That way lies madness

God deliver We the People from the clutches of bureaucrats! These non-elected government wonks have become a power unto themselves due to the fact that politicians are too busy enriching themselves and securing power to be bothered with oversight of these poorly qualified simpletons who wield the power in Washington.

It is time to bring all of the bureaucracies under direct control of the Congress. Under that system, We can hold our elected officials responsible and accountable for the actions of the bureaucrats as they mismanage the laws and regulations that they are assigned to apply.

Additionally, all bureaucrats should be required to take and pass extensive intelligence tests to ascertain their abilities to do their jobs as required and not as they determine.

Furthermore, no termed-out politician should be allowed to serve as the head of any department, commission, or agency on the strength of party loyalty. If the nominated person does not have the demonstrated qualifications, experience, and education in the job for which he/she has been nominated to fill, the Congress should e required by law to disapprove the appointment. There are too many political hacks in government who do not have the wherewithal to administer and manage the area to which they have been appointed.

Shut 'er down......The days of the Democrats doing whatever they want are over. They jammed this law through just like Obummercare and since we elected the Republicans to jam up the Democrats hardcore leftwing job destroying agenda, they either change the way the agency is structured or no director.....

Are the anti-CFBP comments on this thread coming from presidents of banks, credit card issuers, payday loan companies? If not, they're just anti-anything. The CFBP aims to protect the consumer by clarifying the 'fine print' the financial industry uses to protect themselves and/or fleece the average consumer. Unless one has a vested interest in these companies from making contracts more transparent and uniform, what's the problem? Shelby is afraid the CFBP Director has too much power? Didn't seem to bother Congress to repeal the regs that would've prevented the financial meltdown. Give it a break people. The GOP is crying before this group has even started.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) reiterated his plan to block former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray from leading the agency, unless it is restructured as a commission and placed under greater congressional control.

Now I'm really confused...are these the same Republicans advocating smaller government? What's this restructuring as a commission and placing it under congressional control? Did this guy have a laced with moonshine breakfast drink?

Pay attention America.......the real Republicans are comming out in force......................

Jesus nominated to head American peace organization but Richard Shelby, GOP senator, threatens to block nomination. If Shelby withdraws objection, remaining Senate Republicans vow to block or place a secret hold.

You said it right - advise / consent not rubber stamp every nominee the President puts up. You would wish the Congress would be a rubber stamping entity but its not, read the constitution - I did, did you?